With this 13 of the 18 oil blocks which were under finalisation have been signed. Production sharing contracts for six blocks were signed on June 30.

The rest five contracts were being processed as changes have become necessary due to change in the composition of bidding consortia, an official statement said here. Of the seven blocks, four were signed by US-based Okland International LDC, two by consortium of Tullow Oil (Ireland), JTI (USA) and Larsen & Toubro and one by Essar Oil Ltd, the statement said.

The total expected exploration investments in the three phases in seven blocks will be about 80 million dollars with a minimum commitment of $ 25 million in the first phase, it said. Okland International has signed the contract for exploration of 11053 sq kms in two blocks in Gujarat, 5000 sq kms of area in westernoffshore and 2988 sq kms in Tripura. The consortium of Tullow Oil has signed contracts for two blocks in Andhra and western offshore covering an area of 5,455 sq kms, the statement said.

Six contracts signed earlier include Phoneix Overseas for one block each in Rajasthan and Gujarat, consortium of Australian Cairns Energy with Videocon Intl for Krishna Godavari block.